At the moment a new law draft on abortion includes an article that will permit women who suffer incapacitating period pains to take time off work.
When the coalition partner for the Central Government proposed this it was met by resistance fom the major coalition partner who saw no end of legal hurdles yet finally they managed to beat out an acceptable text for the section covering sick days for menstrual problems.
In order to avoid possible recriminations at work or a lack of collaboration by employers, the Government agreed to pick up the tab via Seguridad Social, instead of the employer having to do so. In the case of temporary sickness under normal circumstances it is the employer who has to bear the cost for the first few days of sick leave and then Seguridad Social takes it on.
It is calculated that this new prevision will cost Seguridad Social between 40m and 45m euros a year. The draft law does not stipulate a fixed number of days that a female worker can take sick each month for this reason although the ideal is between three and fives days a month.
It will be the GP (doctor) who will determine how many days are necessary depending on each person.
Furthermore, unlike receiving unemployment benefits, etc, it will not be necessary to have spent a minimum period in employment to request this kind of sick leave.
The Minister for Equality is also pushing Hacienda to accept only 4% IVA on tampax/tampons and 10% of female hygiene products.
The draft law on abortions not only contains the right for women to a free abortion in any public hospital right across Spain, but also permits young women of 17 and even 16 to obtain an abortion without permission from their parents.
The present law on abortions puts a 14-week limit on terminating a pregnancy and up to 22 under exceptional medical circumstances such as fetal malformation or risks to the mother’s life.
Editorial comment: one thing is achieving cabinet approval and quite another is getting it through the upper and lower house where the religious conservatives will undoubtedly vote against it.
(News: Spain)